Murrumbateman is finally getting a school after changes to ACT enrolments

A primary school has been announced for Murrumbateman, just months after the ACT government tightened its enrolment policies for students across the border.

NSW minister Pru Goward said the decision came amid "growing community calls" for a local school and the new Canberra rules, which whittle down the number of ACT schools NSW families can send their children to just a handful.

Timothy Pengilly races ahead with his dog Charlie as his parents Geoff and Roz Pengilly walk his sisters Angela and Hannah home from the bus stop. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"A school in Murrumbateman means many children will no longer need to endure long or interstate commutes to the ACT for their education," Ms Goward said.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet confirmed money to plan the new school would be set aside in the NSW Budget, to be handed down next week, though an exact amount has not yet been revealed.

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Roughly 40 minutes down the road from the capital, the Murrumbateman community has been lobbying for a local school for more than five years.

At the head of the charge was Yass Valley councillor Mike Reid, who welcomed the news for the "rapidly growing" town on Wednesday.

Murrumbateman local Roslyn Pengilly said she hoped the school would be built before it was "too late" for her youngest child, Timothy.

The school day starts every morning at 6:30am for the seven-year-old, kicking off a three-hour round trip to Maribyrnong Primary in Canberra and back, including two unsupervised stop-overs.

"If he ever has to get on the bus without his older sisters, he does get scared, he bursts into tears," Ms Pengilly said.

Timothy Pengilly hugs his mother Roz after getting off the school bus near his Murrumbateman home. He makes the long commute to Canberra every school day. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Families from Bungendore and other surrounding regions had also raised concerns about transport following the ACT changes, with students sometimes forced to take up to three connecting services to get to the school gate.

Murrumbateman local Kathryn Olsen has four children under the age of seven, and had to move her work closer to home when her eldest daughter Lucy couldn't get into an ACT public school.

Children in town attending different schools broke up "the community spirit", Mrs Olsen said.

"We have become a lot more isolated," she said.

When the Pengilly family threw a recent birthday party for Timothy, no one came.

"All this school friends are in Canberra, it was devastating," Ms Pengilly said.

"This will bring that community to the town for the kids."

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An ACT eduction directorate spokeswoman welcomed news of the Murrumbateman school on Wednesday.

"School enrolments have been growing on both sides of the border and this decision recognises the needs of both communities," she said.

The decision to limit NSW enrolments to specific pathway schools meant "there will always be places for NSW students in ACT public schools", the spokeswoman said.

"The ACT takes its regional responsibilities seriously and meets regularly with representatives of the NSW Government...However, there is no substitute for schools in local communities."

The directorate has previously said it analysed interstate transport routes for NSW families before deciding which schools to leave open to NSW enrolments.

"The pathway schools identified for NSW students currently have, and had at the time of planning, NSW students already attending them," a directorate spokeswoman said.

About 4500 Canberra students live in NSW, 1800 of whom attend public schools. That figure is tipped to grow alongside large residential developments close to the border.

While there was no talk of a Murrumbateman high school as yet, Mr Reid said a new development slated for northern Yass could see more kids flocking to Yass High School in the coming years.

"It's got plenty of space right now for [our] kids but that could be a problem down the line."